Hello everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster. We have a beautiful 6 month old labrador, Miso. We love her to bits. Which is why I am having some difficulty with the upcoming prospect of a vacation, during which we will have to leave her for about 4 weeks, when she is 7.5 months old. We have amazing breeders who will be kind enough to have her for the 4 weeks while we are away, and we know that they will take excellent care of her and she will be able to spend time with her whole extended family. I am just having a hard time worrying about whether she will forget about us while we're gone, whether she'll forget all of her training (including potty) and whether she'll resent us for taking a holiday without her/taking her away from her family when we're back! Does anybody here have some advice or experience with this? Will she be OK? Cheers!
Hi there, great news about the breeder, ours have said the same so this is the best news! In terms of them forgetting you I really wouldn’t worry, I don’t have lots of experience with dogs, we’ve just got our first puppy. But, I can give my experience from the other side which might help you. We looked after our friends dog for 2 weeks last year when they went away. Dolly she was called and adores her owner and vice versa. Dolly came through our doors and never looked back, she was so good and took to it really well. There is also the beauty now of Skype and FaceTime etc but dolly didn’t really quite understand it, however, the option is there and it might at least help you. Dolly became my dog for 2 weeks and we had absolutely no problems, but when her owner came back she was overjoyed, no way she had ‘forgotten’, there’s no chance of that, and everything went absolutely and completely back to normal. It’s definitely worse for the owner I imagine, but there is comfort in that I suppose, if that makes sense, at least you’ll know she’ll be ok. Hope that might help a bit, you’ll both be fine I’m sure..... but no doubt I’ll feel the same when it comes to leaving Buddy!
Thanks for your insight! Great to know what it's like from the other perspective and it is very reassuring to know that Dolly hadn't forgotten her owner. I'm sure Buddy will be the same. I think it's a very human thing to think that our dogs will 'miss us' but I suppose they must live in the moment a lot more and hence don't really notice that we're gone all that much! Hopefully Miso will be as easygoing as Dolly.
Never fear that she will forget you. They just don't forget their people. When I was fifteen, my family went to England for a year. My poodle went to stay with her breeder for that year. When we returned stateside, my Dad and younger brother went to get her and brought her home which was a second floor apartment. I stood at the top of the stairs and said her name; she couldn't get up the staircase fast enough.
That's great to hear. And do you guys think 7.5 months is an OK age to leave a pup with their breeder for such a long time? Is 4 weeks too long?
I think we're doing the right thing by her wow being away for a whole year must have been hard! They have long memories then. Was there any issue with house training when you got back? A time to settle back in etc?
She settled right back in as part of the family and within two weeks made the move with us from Ohio to Florida! She lived another 2.5 years before passing away from cancer. I had gotten her when I was eight years old!
